Snarky Pets!

Sunny (tell me about the rabbits, George!)Stubby, showing his favorite side

Io (looking like an animatronic dog from "Babe")Frosty, the beauty queen

I will post photos of those pets that were slighted. Sorry guys and gals! I don't have photos of Emily's clan or the Egyptian goddess China or the cottonball of fury Max or Velcro, the cougar-pawed housecat. More to follow....

Found It

I ID’d the little lady from yesterday’s post (I’m assuming it’s a lady for literary purposes, who knows what gender she really is). She's unappetizingly called a Green Stink Bug Nymph. Here’s a much better photo: I got this photo from cirrusimage.com. It’s a “catalog of over 7000 high-resolution close-up pictures of live wild insects and spiders…” The site houses an extensive archive of the backyard bugs of North America. It's a good reference for all those crafty bug projects you've been wanting to design; there are intimate photos of everything from glorious butterflies to icky bedbugs (which are making a comeback after being almost erradicated- isn't that good to know?).

Check out their section on dragonflies. Stunning, really.

Let's rename the Stinkbug. All of them are too interesting and colorful to have such a yukky title. I know, I know, they extrude an unpleasant scent when disturbed, but does that mean they deserve such an unappealing name?

A Bug's Life

Kelly and I were hiking along one of the local forest service roads and found a fecund blackberry patch that was bear-less. While I was stuffing my face with luscious ripe fruit I came across the bug pictured below. She (do bugs have gender?) was sitting on a plump blackberry, looking like a precious gem. As I scrambled for my camera the uncooperative bug moved from her prime purple backdrop and scrambled onto the poison oak leaves intertwined with the blackberry bush. She’s more camouflaged on the PO but still, she’s a beaut, even thought I didn’t really capture her full glory. I think the carapace design would make an interesting piece of jewelry. Or papercraft design. The bug itself would make an interesting model for an Anigurumi creature. Anyone want to design one? A challenge for our snarky crafters.

Does anyone know what the heck this bug is called? I don’t even know where to start to find out what she is – I need bug recognition software!

Art Walk

Cave Junction had it’s tri-annual Artwalk on Friday, August 14th. The Artwalk goes from 5pm-8pm and, as usual, there wasn’t enough time to socialize, eat and see all the artists and their work in the different venues spread around downtown.

I was quite taken with the quilts (unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of any other work on display):

All were beautiful and make by various artists. The bird one is being auctioned. Please, please, please let it be me who wins! I love this quilt. Here's a detail:

Artwalk used to be a monthly event but sadly, there hasn’t been quite enough interest in the last few years. The IV Arts Council has pared it back to three times a year. There seemed to be a good turnout this month but I fear that Artwalk may be a dying beast. We’ll see what the Arts Council decides for next year. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy what CJ does have to offer. There are exceptional artists/craftspeople/seamstresses living here. If art/craft collecters from the more populated areas of the country knew how cheap original work was here in the Illinois Valley they would come in droves. I'm just saying.

Clouds & Drawing with Imagination

I was flipping through my copy of “Keys to Drawing with Imagination” the other day. This book is a series of creative (and often whimsical) drawing exercises with artist Bert Dodson. The exercises are inventive and make you want to pull out your pencils and start “doodling” immediately. His "doodling" is actual drawing but I won't quibble.

This isn’t a book for beginners but, even if you don’t draw, you can still capture some of Dodson’s creative spirit in your everyday life. One of my favorite exercises is the one about clouds. Dodson takes cloud photos and draws the images he sees in them. During my breaks at work I’ve been taking cloud photos and looking for images. I may try to rough sketch them out but I’ll probably just keep taking photos and inventing the images in my mind.

What do you see?

Astral Love Fest

One of our crafty snarkers got married on Saturday. Congratulations Emily and Kenny!They were married at the Rogue theater; announced for all on the marquee. Memorialized forever with Smash Mouth and the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. And that Pablo guy. Here is the grand entrance of the beautiful bride and her charming mom dancing down the aisle.Ah, the groom getting ready for his band's performance. They got everybody up and dancing.And some of the crafty snarkers posing in the women's lounge with the blushing bride. I think we made a quilt square while we were in there. I think I scribbled a sun...there was a lot of wine around so I can't really remember....we did make a quilt square, right Cece?

Boatnik

Despite the sudden cold and rainy weather, we decided to keep to our craft night at Lake Selmac. We started with a picnic: a platter full of baked salmon, tomatoes from Erin's garden and some really yummy strawberry jam that Casey made.

Casey and Paul had to leave early so we said our adieus and got the boats unpacked and in the water before it got too cold and dark. It was very pleasant on the lake- not too cold or windy. The water felt like bathwater on my feet as I was climbing in the kyack; definitely warmer than the ambient air temperature

China joined Erin and Kelly in the rowboat - she's a good boat dog. Io or Sunny would have probably tipped the boat over; Io from diving in and out, Sunny from fear and imbalance. I have no idea what Max would do. Maybe I'll try it sometime.
Sorry the quality of the pictures is so poor - low light, bobbing, moving around. I'm still not so great with the new camera.

Undercover Agent

If you are undercover perhaps this is not the outfit to wear:I have instructions for this head-turning masterpiece. You know you want to make this. You do.

Crafting in the 70s

I can't help myself. When I see bad (ugly,silly, pointless) craft instructions at thrift stores, I must buy them. Aren't you lucky that I'm willing to share them with you?
Uh...I'm pretty sure I didn't ask for that. She does have a cute 'do, though. Points for that.